F3 New Orleans

Category: New Orleans

  • 610 Stomp #16

    As the QIC (Q In Charge), I selected the route for today’s stomp. Nine men, including one FNG, headed towards the bayou. We went a little further on this route this time. At Stomp #15 per my GPS watch, two blocks past Canal Street is 4.3 miles. We ran to Tulane Avenue this morning to make sure we got the 4.5 miles in, sans GPS watch. The normal routine was in effect, run 6 minutes and walk/burpee for 1 minute.

    Griswold, welcome to the Stomp. We look forward to seeing you at all Stomps in the future….

    The Pax pushed themselves and finished strong. We wrapped it up with a character building exercise…15 burpees OYO.

    Count Off, Namerama, Announcements, Shout Out, and we’re out.

  • Carrying your cross

    “I believe God puts adversity in our lives not to hold us back, but to push us forward.  Adversity forces us out of our comfort zone to make us better and stronger.” – Dr. Gene Orlowsky.

    8 men gathered for this downPAINment in the Gloom.  As the clock was approaching 530am, YHC thought we would have our “virtual” flag streak extend to three days, but Tool saves the day!  This was my VQ at this AO, and I was excited to get after it.  One of my favorite workout styles is cardio exercises while holding weight, and #RockCity is the perfect AO to incorporate this.

    DISCLAIMER

    The Thang:

    COP #1 – IC: Warmup

    • 15 x SSH
    • 10 x Good Mornings
    • 15 x Merkins

    PAX to the rock pile to select their friend for the next 30 minutes.  YHC stressed the importance of picking a smaller rock for this beatdown (about 5 – 10 lbs).  Once you grabbed a rock, you would not drop it until the end of the rock cardio circuit.  After everyone had a buddy, we were off with a quick mosey to a grass patch.

    COP #2 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part One

    • 20 x Rock Jacks
    • 20 x Rock Twist (10 each side)
    • 20 x Rock Marches

    Mosey for 2 minutes to another grass patch.

    COP #3 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part Two

    • 20 x High Knees….. w/ a rock
    • 30 x Rock Squat Reaches
    • 20 x Rock Lunge Jumps

    Mosey for another 2 minutes to another grass patch.

    COP #4 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part Three

    • 20 x Rock Hops
    • 20 x Rock Knee Curls (10 each leg)
    • 20 x Rock Shuffles

    Mosey across the trees to another well-lit grass patch.

    COP #5 – IC:  Cardio Circuit – Part Four

    • 20 x Side Lunges w/ Jumps (10 each leg)… and w/ the rock
    • 5 x Rock Chairs (Alt. Low Lunge Holds in between reps)
    • 11 x Rock Low Squats and perform various moves that YHC calls out will still squatting

    This marks the end of the rock cardio circuit.  A lot of #MidwifeNoises from the PAX after the 3-in-a-row Squat Jumps.  Mosey to the playground and partner up for some pull-ups.

    Set #1 – OYO: Pull ups & 6MOM

    • Partner #1 performs AMRAP pull-ups while Partner #2 preforms the following ab exercises each round:
      • 30 x LBC’s
      • 30 x Flutter Kicks
      • 30 x Hello Dolly

    Mosey back to the rock pile to drop off our friends… was it just me, or did your friend get heavier?  Then it was back to the flag.  The PAX killed this workout today!  YHC was not prepared to be around the flag with 10 minutes to spare, but after following Hawgcycle’s masterful backblast of “11 Habits of Partially Effective Qs”, I used Habit #8 to fill in the remaining time.

    COP #6 – OYO:  Plank-o-rama

    • High Plank, Right Arm Up, High Plank, Left Arm Up, High Plank, Low Plank, then 10 x Peter Parkers

    Still 5 minutes to spare… I’ve been wanting to add a little yoga to my beatdowns for a while, but #Tclaps to Amnesty for bringing it up today.  Perfect idea with 5 minutes to spare.

    COP #7 – OYO: Sun Salutations

    • Round One: Sun Salutation
    • Round Two: Sun Salutation – Runner’s Pose (Right) – Warrior #1 – Warrior #2 – Warrior #3 – then reverse order back to high plank.
    • Round Three: Runner’s Pose (Left) – Warrior #1 – Warrior #2 – Warrior #3 – then reverse order back to high plank.

    Finally! It was 615am. We finished with the Name-O-Rama, Shout-Outs, & Prayer (Courtesy of Bubba)

  • Museum tour

    A mild morning: nice day for a museum tour for JV’s first Saturday Q.
    To the great lawn (to pick up stragglers) for a short warm-up: 30x IC SSH, 29x IC Hill Billies, 15+15x IC arm circles. I think there was something else, but I can’t remember what it was.
    Mosey to the Lichtenstein pond in front of MOMA: 20x IC right-leg step-up, 20x IC incline merkin, 20x IC left-leg step-up, 20x IC decline merkin and 20x IC dips.
    Touring up and down the promenade: starting on the south side, run from lamp post to lamp post, with 1 squat jump at the first lamp post, then 2 at the second, then 3 … to 10 at the 10th lamp post. At a plank-up for the old Q, run back on the north side lamp post to lamp post, with 1 lunge at the first, then 2 at the second, then 3 … to 10 at 10th lamp post.
    Another set at the fountain: 20x IC incline merkin, 20x IC derkin and 6x IC ultra-slow dips (4 court down, 4 count hold, 4 count up).
    Repeat the promenade, but in declining order: 10 squat jumps at the first lamp, 9 at the second, … to 1 at the 10th; then switch sides to run back with 10 lunges at the first lamp, 9 at the second, … to 1 at the 10th.
    Slow mosey to the steps on right side of the museum to split into pairs: wheelbarrows up and down the stairs, while others wait in people’s chair. Then switch–Q plus 5 moseyed to the stairs on the other side to see the other metal work. But Q was unclear, so 4 stayed put, causing Q plus 5 to mosey back to the first set of stairs.
    Nothing to do but mosey back to the great lawn for a circle of mary: 25x IC LBC, 25x IC flutter kick, 25x IC dying cockroach, 25x IC hello dolly, 6x IC the REAL Dr. W (Side Effects: it’s 1 out, 2 close, 3 up, 4 open, 5 arms up and in, 6 arms out and down, 7 close, 8 down: no touching the ground). Sudden change for 15 burpees. Then close out with some plank work: on elbows for 3 minutes with 30 seconds or so up for left leg up and another 30 or so for right leg up (someone-Heisenberg?–was trying it with both legs up), then up on all fours for another 3 minutes or so.
    Finish out with a mosey to the virtual flag to close with a Prayer of Thanksgiving.

  • Black Friday Beatdown

    Five men gathered around the virtual shovel-flag, gave the Disclaimer and….one more joins us as we step off. Mosey straight to the Tulane sign for COP:
    -SSH x 30 IC
    -IW x 30 IC
    -Arm Circles x 30 IC (15 each direction)
    -Peter Parkers x 20 IC
    Mosey to the Wolfpack Mountain and Indian Run to the top.
    Time for some 11’s at the top most ramp. Run down and Merkins x 10 at the bottom of the ramp and LBCs x 1 at top of ramp. Continue until numbers reverse. TClaps to Rocky Top and Duille for lapping YHC…twice. Mosey down the mountain and head to the benches:
    -Left Leg Step Ups x 20 IC
    -Dips x 15 IC
    -Right Leg Step Ups x 20 IC
    Mosey to lawn in front of Touchdown Jesus for some Mary…
    -LBC x 20 IC
    -Hello Dolly x 20 IC
    -Flutter Kicks x 20 IC
    -J-Lo’s (fka Pickle Pounders) x 15 IC
    -Superman hold and rest x 3
    Mosey to the VSF

    Announcements, Shout Out and time for Coffee. Busy day for the pax so JV and YHC headed for some coffee and F2.

  • 11 Habits of Partially Effective Qs.

    Partially may be too strong of a word.

    15 residents and 2 prodigal sons gathered in perfect temperatures for this morning’s mystery Q.  The scheduled Q had to drop out so YHC and RY thought it would be appropriate to share the love and give some of the newer Pax a chance to Q, all the while proclaiming our sage wisdom to their eager ears.

    Habit 1:  Arrive to the AO 10 minutes early.

    Habit 1:  Grow an awesome mustache that commands respect

    Habit 2:  Don’t wear monkey feet

    Habit 3:  Watch out for bikes.

    Habit 4:  Always start with the disclaimer

    After explaining the importance of having different people Q and forgetting to state the disclaimer, we took off across Magazine  (taking slightly different paths) so we could warm-up within earshot of the tomatoes.

    Habit 4:  It’s important that you give the Pax clear direction.  We introduce each exercise with a standard set of three two part commands, e.g.  Command 1:  “Next exercise is (pause) The Side Straddle Hop!”…Command 2: “Ready position (pause) Move!”…Command 3: “In Cadence (pause) Exercise!” and then start the count.  Don’t forget the last command of “Exercise!.”  That is the one that ensures everyone starts together.

    Warm-up COP all IC:  SSH x 30; IW x 30; Merkins x 20; Plank Jacks x 30; Low-Slow Squats x 29; Peter Parkers x 24

    Habit 5:  If some jackass calls you into the COP to lead an exercise without any warning, then you should do some random number of said exercise so that he will be faced with how awful his memory is when he goes to write the backblast.

    From here we moseyed to the abandoned soccer goal and divided up into four groups, forming a diamond about 20 yards apart.

    Habit 6:  Design the workout so that no matter the fitness level, all men get smoked and no man gets left behind.  One way of doing this is for the Q and the fast guys to run ahead to the next location and plank or perform some sort of exercise while everyone catches up.  Another way is to include timed exercises where the pax does AMRAP (as many reps as possible).

    Rocket Man – AMRAP at each station for 30 seconds with a 10 second recovery as you rotate to the next station.  Peek-a-boo pull-ups, Squats, Merkins, Burpees, Rinse and Repeat.

    Habit 7:  Plagiarize.  If something works, steal it and use it the next time you Q.  There are hundreds of great exercises listed on the website.  Don’t feel pressured to be original.  By the way, thanks to Yuengling for Rocket Man.

    At this point YHC passed the Q off to Reluctant Yankee who had his heart set on driving his Chevy to the levee.  However, a train cut off our access to the levee so Yank made a sudden change to 6 MOM.

    Habit 8:  The best laid plans sometimes go awry.  Fewer pax may show up than expected, or more pax may show up, or a train may get in your way, or they may suddenly replace your favorite pull-up bars with some kind of twisted metal, post-modern sculpture with chains.  The point is you need to have some extra workouts in your back pocket (literally in your back pocket if you are using a weinke and wearing bike coach’s shorts) ready to use at a moments notice.

    Habit 9:  Remember that pace is important.  Standing around and not doing anything purposefully is a workout killer.  This is a corollary of Habit 8, or maybe vice versa.  I’m not really sure, but it probably doesn’t matter (Notice how obnoxious it is to ramble and not be purposeful, even in the backblast).

    Six Minutes of Mary all IC:  LBC x 25; Flutter Kick x 24; Rosalita x Veinticinco, LBT x 23; Russian Twist x 20

    At this time the train was gone so we followed Yankee to the levee

    Chevy to the Levee:  10 Burpees, 25 Mary Katherine’s at the top, 25 Parker Peters on the other side.  Run back to the beginning and repeat doing 10, 25, and 20 reps.

    Hit the rail road tracks for Wiley Coyote IC x 12

    Habit 10:  Never lead the pax into doing something illegal or highly dangerous

    Back to the park for some Tchoupitoulas Tchoo-Tchoo.  Pax in a line in plank as the man at the end bunny hops over everyone.  We made it through one rotation.

    Back to the flag for the COT.  Prayers for friends and family facing treatments and surgeries during the holidays.  Celebration of Amnesty’s grandmothers life.

    Habit 11:  There is probably never a good reason to quote John Cougar Mellencamp during the COT.  

    • T-claps to all the men that stepped up and led exercises today.
    • T-claps to Osha for channeling his inner Corps Commander.
    • T-claps to Heisenberg for being able to count to 3 in Spanish.
    • T-claps to the pax for being able to count to 25 in Spanish.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • 610 Stomp #15 – Bayou Boogaloo

    5 Burpee starved men met in the brisk City Park gloom hoping to earn their turkey and dressing this week.  There was some necessary needling of Amnesty for missing his Q yesterday.  YHC decided to stick with the new Moss Street route, extending it two blocks past Canal to get it closer to 4.5 miles.  After a quick disclaimer we we set off

    The Thang

    Run past the museum and out of the park.  Head Southish on Bayou St. John / Moss St.  Continue 2 blocks past Canal, then turn around and come back to the flag running along the other side of the Bayou.  All the while, stopping every 6 minutes to do one minute of burpees/recovery.  Once everyone gets back to the flag we seal the deal with 10 additional burpees.

    Naked Man Moleskin

    • In reality the route was about 4.3 miles.  I think we can stretch it out to Banks and make it 4.5.
    • Great job this morning.  I think everyone ran this route faster this week than last week.  Everyone was under the 10 min/mile pace.  Time to add more burpees?
    • For some reason Shorty and SFx decided it would be a good idea to try to fit in 15 burpees at each stop.  T-claps to them for getting in 100 burpees this morning.
    • The dew on the banks of the bayou is much thicker and wetter than other places.  #Science
    • The Ideal gas station near Parkway Bakery has gas for $1.53 #Corn

    Shout Out

    We prayed for those facing physical ailments and poor health during the holidays.

  • The Skinny Arm post

    OK- AO – The Birdcage/The Skinny #norocks

    Sure there were only 4 of us again!  But 4 dudes trying to get better.  It was by far the coldest morning of this fall.  I kept thinking that bagasse would show up with the flag – but he fartsacked on us!

    The PAX started off with a gentle Mosey then things got harder.

    First COP – SSH x 25, Hilllbilly x 25, Imperial Squats x 25, Merks x 20, Good mornings x 25

    Kind of a quiet pax – I had to remind them to count in cadence.  Finally felt warm after that COP.

    Run following the loop and stop at the Rows.  Rows x 20 while partner does burpees until Rows are done.  Then Rows x 15  while partner does burpees until Rows are done.

    Then we mosey’d following the loop at Audubon.  We stopped and visited our old friend Jack Webb.

    No rocks but our arms were still hurting!

    Some mumble chatter about these goofy air pumps until we got to 10.  Then Douille had his ah-ha moment.  Jack Webb to 10.  Gives + 50 push ups.

    Then we mosey’d to the benches at the fountain near St Charles Ave.  I offered the opportunity to the faster runners to meet at the benches.  Nip Tuck and Douille took off.

    Here we did a COP:  Step Ups left leg, step ups right leg, Dips, one leg left squats, one leg right squats and slow dips holding each position.  x 20

    Mosey to the Golf tees.  Here we got to work on our 6 minutes of Mary.

    Hello Dolly, Russian Twist, Dying Cockroach, LBC, Peter Parkers, Flutter, x 25

    Mosey a half mile.  Finish the 6MOM that we started.

    Parker Peters, Plank Jacks, Mtn Climbers x 20

    Then it was a sprint to the finish at the Flag!

    A quick prayer to better human beings – every day all day!

     

     

     

  • Looking for Amnesty

    8 Q-less PAX arrived at #RockCity in the frigid (relative term) gloom looking to lift something heavy.  I wonder if the temperature was any warmer down south where our skinny-armed brethren were congregating.  At 0530 YHC asked if anyone knew where the Q was to learn that he had decide to rest, apparently planning to skip the workout he is supposed to Q in favor of some workouts later in the week.  #LetsNotLetHimForgetAboutThisOne.  After YHC stumbled through the disclaimer it was off to the rock pile.

    The Thang

    We circled up near our workout partners for the warm-up COP all IC:  SSH x 30; Hillbillies x 30 (insert obligatory joke about my Sr. Prom); Arm Circles x 30; Merkins x 15; Toe Raises x 30; Squats x 15.

    Time to select your workout partner, aka rock.   YHC decided to not provide any friendly advice to the FNG – some lessons are best learned through experience.

    Mosey to the flag football field for a Rock COP all IC:  Shoulder Press x 15; Toe Raises x 40; Curls x 15; Squats x 15; Rows x 15

    We then lined up facing the far fence ( 75 yards?) for a variation of Lt. Dan.  2 lunges followed by 1 squat, then 4 lunges followed by 2 squats, 6 lunges and 3 squats, etc. etc. and so forth until you reach the fence.  YHC almost got to 16 lunges.  Tool and I recognized that Shorty seemed to be benefiting from his abnormally long stride.  I am going to put his over/under at 12 lunges.  Feel free to place your bets in the comments.

    Next up was Lt. Dan’s cousin the Rockin’ Jack Webb:  1 merkin with hands on rock followed by one overhead rock press, then 2 merkins and 2 presses, etc., etc., and so forth.  We made it to 7 before YHC got totally smoked.

    Grab the rocks and mosey to the Kaboom playground where we partnered up into 4 groups and completed 2 sets of the following

    • Group 1:  Pull-ups x AMRAP
    • Group 2:  Squats con roca x AMRAP
    • Group 3:  Curls con roca x AMRAP
    • Group 4:  Rock burpees (Rockees?) x 5 (this was the count for everyone)

    Grab the rock in front of you (Heisenberg got the raw end of this deal as he got stuck with Gibraltar) and return it to its home.

    Finish with 6 minutes of Mary:  Regular Plank; Elbow Plank; Pickle Pounders x 15; LBC IC x 30; Dying Cockroach IC x 30; Superman to Boat x 2.5

    Horses to the stable back to the flag.

    Shout Out

    YHC led the shout out praising God for the weather, the park, and a group of men to workout with.  Prayed for increased strength and compassion.

    Naked Man Molekskin

    The title to the backblast is a pun poking fun of our missing Q, but it does hint at a much more serious problem in our world.  The situation in Syria and Iraq is grave and needs our attention and prayer.  The decisions that countries must make in regards to the millions of refugees are not simple.  Let’s pray that world leaders make the right decisions.  Let’s pray that God moves us to look upon those seeking refuge with love and compassion.  What is happening in Iraq and Syria is genocide.  Christians are being killed for their faith.  Peaceful Muslims are are also being murdered.  I follow the band Rend Collective on twitter and they tweeted the following quote that I think is important to consider if you are a Christian:  “Safety is not our number one priority : it is to follow the dangerous, wild, gospel with a cross on our backs. Settle for nothing less.”  If you are a Christian, you have an opportunity to exercise your faith in this crisis.  Will we deny Christ in our decision making, or will we take up our cross and follow Him?”

     

  • Goodyear and Good Cheer

     

    A faithful 11 showed up to enjoy a beatdown on a beautiful Saturday morning in New Orleans City Park.  Though we were left without a flag by the fartsacking little piggy, yet we pressed on relatively unphased.  Bueller joined the Circle of Pain shortly to make a dirty dozen.

    The Thang:

    Mosey to Great Lawn for circle up:

    25 Side Straddle Hops (IC)

    15 Arm Circles Forward / 15 Arm Circle Backward (IC)

    Mosey to Track for circle:

    Goodyear has 3 Blimps that travel to different fields every week so….

    BLIMPS #1

    10 Burpees, 15 Lunges (on each leg), 20 Imperial Walker, 25 Merkins, 30 Plankjacks, and 35 Squats (OYO)

    Plank for 6

    Mosey to Peewee Football field for circle:

    BLIMPS (same reps as above) (OYO) #2

    Plank for 6

    Mosey around to high ground by The Foundry:

    BLIMPS (starting with 5 Burpees and so on) (OYO) #3

    Al Gore for 6

    Mosey to The Foundry:

    Planked in line according to running speed and partnered up

    Round 1:

    Partner 1 – As many cycles as you can before return of partner: 5 Pull-ups (or bent-arm hangs), 10 Merkins, and 15 LBCs

    Partner 2 – Run to Brick Festival Pavilion and back (1/3-1/2 mile)

    Plank for 6

    Switch

    Round 2:

    Partner 1- cycles of 5 Pull-ups (or low rows), 10 Hip Slappers (10 slaps each hip), and 15 Straight vertical leg LBCs

    Partner 2 – Run to Brick Festival Pavilion and back (1/3-1/2 mile)

    Al Gore for 6

    Dr. W’s x 10 (IC)

    Mosey to an empty dirt spot by the Peristyle

    Superman for 6

    Random chatter:

    Ben Stein quotes of “Bueller” as he arrived hot

    Several mentions of the fartsacking piggy

    Grumblings of moseying distance to the track, YHC mentioned swinging by his house for a second

    Questioning YHC’s focus after coaching squat form on the first circle of BLIMPS and then encouraging getting 6’s in the air on Hip Slappers

    Ringing compliments of “BS” from The Foundry as YHC rounded corner from his last run

    Announcements:

    The usual schedule

    PAX encouraged to earn their turkey during the upcoming week

    Shout-outs:

    Yankee’s Aunt Julie battling cancer and enduring treatment week of Thanksgiving

    Baby Brook home and doing well

  • You Don’t Have to Move that Mountain

    “You don’t have to move that mountain, Just help me Lord to climb it.” – Nickel Creek

    12 men men met in a perfect gloom for a Wolfpack Mountain Triple Shot.  We were blessed with a guest from Carolina, and to his credit I didn’t hear him mention the Panthers one time – T-Claps for that.  I didn’t ask, but I think he may also be a world-champion crab walker. #FasterThanJameis

    This was my first time to Q a Friday workout.  We gathered around the flag for the disclaimer and we’re off.

    The Thang

    I wanted to prove that I was my own man, so we skipped the normal meandering mosey and headed straight for Touchdown Jesus (watch for cars).  We lined up by the LOYOLA sign fka the YOLO sign for the warm-up LOP.

    All exercises were ran between the LOYOLA sign and TD Jesus (about 35 yards?) – High knees, Butt Kicks, Karaoke (down and back), Bear Crawl, Crawl Bear, Jameis Winston, Winston Jamies.

    Observations:  1) The dewey (not Douille) wet ground was surprisingly cold.  2) Wild Turkey has to be the fastest Bear Crawl / Crab Walker we have ever seen ’round these parts.  I am going to check out some Area 51 backblasts and see if they just do Ark Loaders for 45 minutes.

    Humbled by the Wild Animal from Carolina YHC led the PAX to Wolfpack Mountain.

    YHC chose to do 15s up the mountain instead of 11s.  After realizing the Ole Miss grads were not in attendance I skipped the in-depth explanation of the arithmetic involved (Arkansas – 49th in Education, 1st in your hearts).

    Start with 5 burpees on the south side and 10 donkey kicks on the north side as you run up the mountain increase the burpees and decrease the donkey kicks by one.  I think we ended up with a total of 45 burpees and 40 Donkey Kicks, but take that with a grain of salt (see previous mention about Arkansas being 49th in education).

    Down the stairs.  T-claps to the Loyola campus maintenance department for cleaning up the urine and ice cream.

    We gathered at the foot of the mountain for a Dirty McDuece climb:

    •  Up the first incline and then gather for the COP (everything is IC x 12):  Merkins, Squats, Hello Dolly
    • Up two levels and then: Left Hand Stagger Merks, Lunges, Flutter Kicks
    • Up two levels and then: RH Stagger Merks, Toe Raises, Putins
    • Up two more levels to the top:  Abe Lincolns, Beyonces, Freddie Mercurys (these went particularly well with my mustache).

    Back down the stairs.  At this point we had 6 minutes left, so we went for the trifecta

    Mosey to the outer stairwell and run up one at a time.  YHC went all wedding coordinator like and made the PAX space out.  Cross the top floor of the parking garage and run down the inner stair well.  At this point we moseyed back to the flag just making it in time.

    Naked Man Moleskin

    T-Claps for this PAX and their record-setting performance on Wolfpack Mountain.  Hopefully the record doesn’t stand for very long….I know I am perseverating on this, but I can’t get over how fast Wild Turkey can crab walk.  This is the gold standard to which the NOLA PAX must aim to acheive…Full Disclosure – I think the quote at the beginning of this BB was actually written by Trisha Yearwood, but I thought it sounded cooler to attribute it to Nickel Creek who remade the song.  If you’ve read this much of the backblast your realize that I’m not cool so I’ll be honest – I do love me some Trisha Yearwood… Continued prayers for RY and Agassi’s aunt…T-claps to Wild Turkey for leading us in a great prayer.